I read about Target’s opening for this year’s Black Friday at midnight on Thanksgiving — the earliest opening ever for the store — and how many similar chains were following Target’s example and letting in the rush of rabid consumers the night before the shopping festivities traditionally begin.

It seems shoppers want to steal the deals right after they celebrate Thanksgiving with their families, and the retailers don’t seem to have any qualms about accommodating them.

The stories I hear about Black Friday get more absurd every year. I’ve heard of people getting trampled in the stampede of bargain hunters.

Is that the cost of saving a couple bucks?

The Occupy Movement, the protest against greed and corruption, seems to overlook how Black Friday madness is as much a part of that as the banks are. People are camping in tents and holding signs protesting how corporations have such a large pull on everything in American society.

But no one seems to be protesting how stores are giving families a chance to celebrate the holidays as a family by canceling Thanksgiving celebrations so they can all go out and buy scarves and shoes.

So what does it all mean?

Of course, it is a marketing scheme to increase profits in a down economy. Giving people a chance, a temptation rather, to shop on a holiday will probably drive profits through the roof. But what are the larger implications? What’s the point?

In a bad economy, people need to get out and spend money if the economy is to recover. But they shouldn’t be spending money they don’t have. That’s what hurts an economy in the first place and it’s likelier to happen as Black Friday becomes more and more like a circus every year.

I read the story of an employee who wouldn’t be able to spend the holiday with his fiancee’s parents because he had to rest up for his 10-hour shift at Target.

It made me ask: what about the employees of these stores being made to work long shifts? Holiday pay is great, but the purpose of holiday pay is to provide compensation to workers sacrificing time with their loved ones.

But loved ones are taking a backseat to business this year, it seems, and every year if consumers don’t start to realize this, there will be no end to this madness until they start to slow down, take a breath, and do a careful evaluation of what getting a good bargain is really worth.

The Clare High School senior and his mom, Karen, were at the front of the line at Kmart, 2125 S. Mission St.

“I would never allow my kids to do this until they got older,” Karen Owens said. “My husband and my other two are at Wal-Mart getting a computer.”

The Owens were chatting with Mount Pleasant residents DeDe Buerkel and Joy Kinney during the pre-dawn hours.

The stores have gotten more organized, making it easier for the customers, Buerkel said. But that did not help her find everything she wanted this year.

Buerkel was looking for a Nintendo DSi for each of her daughters. By the time the store had opened, all the slips for DSi’s were given out, one per person, so Buerkel would have to wait another hour to see if there were any left.

“You’ve got to be polite to the workers,” she said. “Plus I love looking at the crowds and watching people.”

Their experiences were repeated across the city and the country as thousands waited in line Friday morning to take part in Black Friday deals.

Mary Robinson waited for over three hours outside of Target, 4097 E. Bluegrass Road, to get a new television.

Heather Hamburg and LeeAnna Robinson were in line with Mary Robinson, all of whom drove in from Vestaburg. The trio planned to go to Bath and Body Works, Menards and Staples after leaving Target.

“We didn’t go to sleep at all,” Hamburg said. “(I am) as soon as I get home.”

The promise of deals was overshadowed for some people by the promise of friendship. Melissa Chambers, Monica Chambers and Johnny Loomis, of Weidman, met Dallas Chinn and Alba Monroe, of Alma, waiting in line.

The two groups discovered they could divide and conquer their lists, each of them picking up items for the other. The Chambers and Loomis were focusing on children’s toys and other Christmas gifts.

“Look how dedicated I am to Xboxes,” Loomis said. “Santa works hard.”

He and the Chambers had already been to Wal-Mart, 4730 Encore Blvd., and they had their route choreographed for when the store doors opened at 4 a.m.

“You get your map studied, usually plan it out before,” Monica Chambers said. “Don’t bring a cart, I learned that the first year.”

As the doors opened and the crowed swelled in, Chinn and Monroe took off running to the electronics counter. Chinn grabbed a Nintendo DSi and a copy of Halo: Reach before stepping in line.

He was joined by the Chambers and Loomis.

“See, just like that, bam,” he said. “I sprinted all the way back here, (past) two old ladies, they both had carts and TVs.”

Much of CMU’s population plans to head home and spend time with family, friends and significant others in their community. It will be a nice distraction from the upcoming final exams and other stresses, said Dean of Students Bruce Roscoe.

“A majority are going to relax and rest before the upcoming weeks and the pressure that’s going to follow,” Roscoe said. “I think a lot of students are looking forward to the holiday, and getting to catch a second wind.”

Shelby freshman Matt Ervinck, like many other students, plans to drive home and spend his weekend with family and friends.

“College is stressful,” Ervinck said. “Going home is great because you have nothing to do.”

Roscoe said he is looking forward to having his family over and spending the day at home with them. He thinks everyone is excited for the holiday and the break from school and work.

“I think we all look forward to it, faculty and student alike,” Roscoe said. “I’m sure some students experience stress going home, but I think the majority of them look forward to it.”

For many, the weekend and upcoming holiday season can mean splitting time traveling between families.

Holli Whitemore, a CMU alumna from Alma, will spend her weekend in Alma and Ann Arbor to be with her and her husband’s families during the holiday.

“Being married makes it more challenging to fit in everyone,” she said. “But it’s awesome to have two families that want to see us.”

Others plan on spending the holiday out on the town. For some, the weekend is a time to party and shop.

“I’m going out for Black Friday,” said Lake Orion sophomore Stephanie Sinks. “I’ve done this for the past two years, and I haven’t been home at all this semester, so I’m excited.”

River Rouge junior Steven Wilson plans on going home for a traditional Thanksgiving with family, but he spent his weekend before the break volunteering with the Mount Pleasant Community Church.

Wilson attended their Community Days Event, during which he helped distribute 16,145 pounds of food throughout Isabella County. He said such events are important to help remind people of how much there is to be thankful for.

“It definitely gives people something to be thankful for that the church is putting on an event like this,” Wilson said.

“Each store is going to have one deputy,” said Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski. “They are there to be visible.”

Wal-Mart, 4730 Encore Blvd., will have an extra officer for six and a half hours on Black Friday, and Target, 4097 E. Blue Grass Road, will have an extra officer for eight hours.

The stores approached the County Commission on Nov. 3 to ask for extra security. Employees from both stores were unable to comment on security matters.

County Commissioner John Haupt said the extra security will be concentrated in one area.

“Most of that patrol will be outside of the building,” he said.

Extra supervision

Black Friday is considered the biggest shopping day of the year and falls on Nov. 27.

Commissioner George Green said the stores are just looking for someone to help look over the customers.

“This is Black Friday supervision,” he said.

Black Friday is known to be a crazy shopping day because stores host some of the best deals of the year. Last year, a Wal-Mart employee in Valley Stream, N.Y., was trampled to death on the morning of Black Friday.

Mioduszewski said stories like that receive attention from other places of business.

“They are just being proactive and want extra security to be there to help prevent an incident,” he said.

However, Mioduszewski said there have not been any big issues in the past in the area and believes Mount Pleasant will not have any problems.

“I’m not aware of any major problems in the past,” he said. “It is just a proactive measure.”